Three inks deal with Virgin Media Business to 'future-proof' 4G network

Virgin Media Business has signed a multi-million pound deal with Three to improve the operator's backhaul network.

The pair have inked a five-year deal as Three looks to upgrade its nationwide fibre optic network which will improve connections between its fifteen aggregation sites, its network share with EE and three core data centres across the country. The upgrade will 'future-proof' Three's network to offer a better 4G experience for consumers with a capacity boost of 300Gb.

Virgin Media Business sales director, George Wareing (pictured), said: ‘In today’s hectic world, people increasingly demand more from their mobile devices. Far from just making calls, now we want to do everything from browsing the web to streaming video. Being able to meet these demands and connect people to anything at any time is a challenge for today’s mobile operators. Three recognises this challenge and is doing all they can to safeguard its future services. Through our network, they can meet customer expectations and deliver a fast and consistent connection.’

Three chief technical officer, Bryn Jones, said: ‘Being able to browse the internet and stream videos instantly without buffering has become a minimum requirement for many customers when deciding on their provider. With the new high-capacity backhaul network from Virgin Media Business we are ready to welcome even more people to the Three family. Regardless of where they are, now all of our customers will receive the best possible experiences when using 4G.’

Ovum senior analyst, Catherine Haslam, added: ‘As mobile operators upgrade their radio access networks to LTE, it is important that they ensure backhaul and core networks have the ability to cope with the increased speed, capacity and latency demands that will follow. High quality, high speed fibre networks, such as that from Virgin Media Business, deliver this. They avoid the possibility of bottlenecks appearing in the fixed side of the network that could negate the increased performance of LTE over the air interface.’